Sunday, May 28, 2017

Seven Kingdoms is a band that falls into
the rare category of being an American band that plays a more European style of
power metal. Historically, there haven’t been too many bands from the US that
can keep up with their European or even South American brethren, but Seven
Kingdoms definitely shows a lot of potential with their fourth album “Decennium”.
The defining feature of this band is the wailing of lead vocalist Sabrina
Valentine. Though she can hit some pretty high notes, she switches back and
forth between a more restrained, upper-mid range, and truly powerful
high-pitched vocals. This versatility is best displayed on the album’s lead
track: “Stargazer”, where the verses tend to be tamer, while the choruses are
definitely more energetic. As catchy as the chorus is for this song, its
whoa-oh sections bear an incredibly strong resemblance to Edguy’s in the chorus
of “Sabre & Torch”. Nevertheless, this is a memorable song that gets the
album off to a strong start.

As the album soldiers on, the band shows
that they have some thrashy roots in them. The riffing in “Undying”, for
example, definitely comes from a more aggressive place than you might expect on
a power metal album. Many other tracks display a similar ferocity in their
approach, replicating the feel of some of the heavier tracks on Gamma Ray’s “Land
of the Free” and “Somewhere Out In Space”. Aside from this, Seven Kingdoms
sticks to a lot of techniques that work well in power metal. Their music is
extraordinarily guitar focused, with flashy solos, harmonized guitars, and
plenty of lead melodies. The drumming keeps pace, particularly on the more
upbeat songs where it primarily focuses on quick thrash beats to keep the
energy high.

“Decennium” ultimately works well because
of the band’s strong songwriting. The melodies and riffs are cohesive with
little disjointedness, allowing the vocals to soar. Tracks like “In The Walls”
and “Kingslayer” are easy singalong anthems, and though they might not
necessarily reach the levels of the power metal gods they worship, they’re
incredibly professional sounding. The band could benefit from cutting a track
or two. There isn’t a specifically weak outlier, but Seven Kingdoms is
definitely able to get their point across in a shorter time. Regardless, “Decennium”
is an enjoyable power metal release that shows that American bands can
definitely compete with many of their European counterparts!

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

American brutal death metal band Pathology
is returning in 2017 to unleash their next album to the world. It’s been 3
years since their last record, and while that might qualify as a normal wait
for most bands, it feels like an eternity for Pathology, who released a new
album every year between 2008-2014. Despite only having heard a subset of these
records (“Legacy of the Ancients”, “Awaken To the Suffering”, and “Lords of
Rephaim”), it is nonetheless clear that “Pathology” is incredibly true to the
band’s vision. That means this record is a compact offering of brutal death
metal, complete with gurgly vocals, heavily palm-muted and syncopated riffs, and mechanical-feeling drumming.

Even though this record is largely devoid
of memorable moments, there is always an interesting riff being played.
Pathology is certainly not a brutal death metal band that gets away with just
being heavy; they actually compose crushing riffs, and they have so many of these
riffs that they never feel stale. One thing the band excels at is writing
slams. There aren’t a ton of them on this album, but when they do show up (such
as on “Dissevered”), they are absolutely filthy. The band would benefit from
incorporating more of these earth-shatteringly heavy moments into their music.

The production on this release manages to
beat out most records from similar bands. Matti Way’s vocals are higher in the
mix than one would typically expect, but he’s a far superior vocalist to most
of his contemporaries so this isn’t a problem. It also keeps the drumming in
check, as a lot of these bands tend to have a tinny crackling snare, but Dave
Astor’s kit sounds like a more typical metal drumkit. The guitars, though
downtuned, aren’t so low that they prevent you from deciphering the riffs. It helps that Pathology occasionally works their way up the fretboard instead of playing monotone sounding riffs.

Though “Pathology” brings nothing new to
the table, it does continue to show why this band is among the best brutal
death metal has to offer. The extra time off didn’t really make them any
better, but more importantly, it didn’t make them any worse. This record is as
consistent as can be, and any fan of slamming, gurgling, chunky death metal
will dig “Pathology”.